Be happy, be an atheist
I couldn’t resist a chuckle over a study reported in the October issue of the journal Psychological Medicine. The study, entitled “Spiritual and religious beliefs as risk factors for the…
Bill Longstaff
You’re making progress, Francis
After two doctrinaire popes, it’s a pleasure to have one who puts mercy ahead of dogma as Pope Francis did this week. In an interview with La Civilta Cattolica, the…
Greece—1930s redux
When Europe sank into depression in the 1930s, politics polarized. The far right became more appealing to some, the far left to others. One reassured people by harking back to…
"Lock and load" has a new meaning in Montana
The United States saw an increase of 30 per cent in suicides among middle-aged Americans from 1999 to 2010. More Americans now die from suicide than from automobile accidents with…
Bob McDonald says "stand up for science"
On CBC News, Bob McDonald, Canada’s favourite science commentator, makes a plea for both basic science and for Monday’s “Stand Up for Science rallies.” He comments on our federal government’s…
Did Putin really write that?
I’ve always thought of Vladimir V. Putin as an amoral ex-KGB thug. And I still do. But I have to admit he wrote a rather progressive op-ed piece in the…
Quebec Charter of Values not all bad
Every cloud has a silver lining, according to John Milton. That may be a bit too optimistic for most of us but it is, believe it or not, true of…
September 15th—International Day of Democracy
Attention, all you democrats, mark it on your calendars: the International Day of Democracy, Sunday, September 15th—as declared by the UN General Assembly in 2007 with resolution 62/7. Following the…
Climate change is ruining my tea
This is really too much. Hurricanes, floods, droughts, all aggravated by climate change, and now the cruelest blow of all—it’s ruining our tea. India produces one-third of the world’s tea…
Apple and the exploitation of Chinese labour
I have been an Apple fan since I got my first computer—Mac all the way. I cringe, therefore, when I encounter articles about the company and its exploitation of Chinese…
Will the tax man catch up to the corporate slackers?
Globalization as we have come to know and love it is misnamed. As it advantages corporations while disadvantaging workers and governments, it might more appropriately be called corporatization or some…
Australia—a win for Tony Abbott (and Richard Murdoch)
By all accounts Tony Abbott waged a highly effective campaign in leading his Liberal (conservative) Party to victory in the Australian election on Saturday. And it didn’t hurt that he…
Sanctions—deadlier than war?
Most Canadians, I suspect, don’t pay much attention to the use of sanctions in international politics. War, yes—people being shot, bombed, and apparently even gassed is hard to ignore—but sanctions…
At least the provinces (well, two of them) care about climate change
In a good news item, the governments of Ontario and Manitoba announced they will maintain the internationally renowned Experiment Lakes Area project. Ontario has committed $2-million a year and Manitoba…
How will the West react when the Sauds turn on their people?
Various Western nations, including Great Britain, the U.S. and France, are exhibiting great outrage against Syria’s assaults on its own people. And outrage is indeed called for. Yet there is…
Tory MPs defy government
No, the above headline most certainly does not refer to Canadian Tory MPs. In the recent vote in the British House of Commons on Prime Minister David Cameron’s motion to…